


Sweeter Than a Slowpoke's Tail

by RubiRose15



Series: Ash/Gou Fics [7]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:21:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25539454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubiRose15/pseuds/RubiRose15
Summary: A SatoGou coffee shop au, what else is there to say?
Relationships: Gou | Goh/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Series: Ash/Gou Fics [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1566991
Comments: 12
Kudos: 82





	Sweeter Than a Slowpoke's Tail

**Author's Note:**

> Title is cause I couldn't come up with anything and my friend had the slowpoke song stuck in her head cause of shenanigans--

Ash Ketchum is a man of many talents. Surprisingly, despite being utterly terrible at almost every other form of cooking, he was very good at making coffee and small sweets. 

This came in handy when a cafe opened in Vermillion City, catered to serving cute treats to both humans and Pokemon. Ash was curious about the place, and initially walked in just to try it out, but somehow he now found himself working there as a barista. It was great, though, as he was thrilled to be able to work with so many Pokemon, including his partner, Pikachu.

As weird as it sounded, Ash could almost compare the fast paced environment to battling. His opponents were the finicky machines, harsh entitled parents, and the intricate ways of spelling someone's name incorrectly. Speed was the key here, and luckily for him, speed was his and Pikachu's go-to strategy. 

For the most part, Ash never left a customer unsatisfied. There was the occasional Karen, who would gripe at him for taking more than five seconds with their order, but they would soon be quiet once they tasted the caffeinated potion with 16 different ingredients, all of them vegan. One time Karen of the Elite Four showed up. That was an interesting day.

Today was on and off for customers, which Ash found to be annoying. He wished everyone would just come at once and get everything over with instead of switching between no customers and a rush. He sighed as the cafe entered another dead time. 

Pikachu padded over with a stack of dishes from the dining areas. After handing them to a Squirtle who enthusiastically washed them, it hopped onto the counter next to Ash and patted him on the shoulder. Ash smiled, grateful that his friend was with him. Pikachu made boring shifts fun.

After a while of cleaning up behind the counter, the front door chimed as a new customer walked in. Ash practically sprinted to his position behind the register. He mentally prepared himself for another rush, but no, there was only one person in the lobby with no sign of anybody following him. 

The boy was cute, Ash thought. He walked in with a curious expression, clutching a Raboot to his chest. He had pretty blue eyes and his hair had vibrant red steaks. His red and gray outfit almost matched his Pokemon, and Ash couldn't help but chuckle about how adorable that was.

Eventually the boy came to the counter, ready to order. Ash stopped himself just short of gasping. The boy was even cuter up close, with long fluttery eyelashes and glossy lips. He internally smacked himself. It was kind of creepy to be analyzing every part of this customer's face, right?

"What can I get for you?" Ash asked cheerfully, ignoring his thoughts. Pikachu chirped a greeting next to him as well. The boy looked at the menu again, then at his Raboot, before saying anything.

"Can I get the Buneary Frappe?" he asked. "Or, if there's a variation, one that looks like Raboot?" 

Ash's heart gushed at that. Of course, most people wanted to get food that looked like their Pokemon, but  _ this boy was just so adorable!  _ Raboot seemed to be having a similar reaction, as it quickly covered its face with its ears. That didn't stop anyone from seeing how much it was blushing, though.

"Sorry, we only have the Buneary cookies," Ash frowned, looking toward the stock of the decor foods. 

"I see," said the boy, looking disappointed. "Buneary is fine, then." 

"Alright, then!" Ash grinned, trying to lighten his mood. "Can I get a name for the order?" 

"Oh, uh… Goh," 

Ash hummed in response, scribbling "Go" on the cup. It was a unique name, to say the least, but he didn't comment out loud about it. Feeling bold, Ash set the cup and marker down and asked another question.

"Can I get a number for that, too?" 

He regretted saying it almost as soon as he said it. Instead of looking flustered or confused, Goh just looked vaguely offended. Ash scrambled to think of a way to recover from that, scolding himself for trying to flirt with someone he just met. Especially since he had never flirted with anyone before. It looked easy in movies! 

"Excuse me?" Goh tilted his head incredulously, not believing what he just heard. Ash took it as a chance to fix the situation.

"U-uh, I meant we have a rewards program, if you want to join you use your number. Sorry, should have been more clear." 

The cafe did not have a rewards program. Ash panicked on the inside as he hoped Goh would not accept the offer.

"No thank you…" he replied uncomfortably.

"Alright, well…" Ash glanced back and forth, completely losing his place and struggling to find a way back to his customer service routine. "I'll uh, I'll go make that for you--"

"Thanks…"

And with that, Goh walked away, waiting at one of the tables. Ash collapsed against the counter, wishing that interaction had gone better. Shaking himself out of it, he set to work on making the frappe. Pikachu brought out the cookies for Buneary's ears and the special cup holder that looked like fluffs of whipped cream. 

The process went by fast, and in under a minute the frappe was ready to be served. Ash made Pikachu deliver it to Goh, as at the moment, he wasn't sure if he could look him in the eyes. The Pokemon agreed and left Ash alone to take care of a small group of customers that just walked in.

A few orders later, the cafe slowed down again. Ash washed the oil off of his hands from the pasta orders, and he let his eyes glance over to where Goh was sitting, enjoying the frappe with Raboot. He was scrolling through his phone with an irritated expression. Ash gulped, hoping that was just his face and not the result of his actions.

He was starting to feel bad about making him uncomfortable, so he toyed with the idea of giving him a free pastry as an apology. With that in mind, an idea struck. He took stock of the ingredients he had on hand and smiled, having just the thing to cheer Goh up.

  * ~•~•



Goh had read about a fairly new cafe that had opened up in the city. The article discussing its grand opening mentioned that it served Pokemon themed treats. He wanted to check it out, hoping that maybe they had something matching one of his Pokemon. Unfortunately, he was displeased to discover that despite the cafe's many offerings, they didn't have a single item themed for any of his Pokemon. It was surprising, considering he had a lot of Pokemon living at the laboratory he worked at. 

It didn't help that the cashier was ever so slightly incompetent. He looked distracted and jittery. Goh figured he must've been new, but he brought his order out with lightning speed, so he didn't care that much.

The only thing he was stuck on now was that the cashier had unceremoniously hit on him, then tried to cover it up. It was unprofessional to hit on customers, and it was rude in general to flirt with someone you just met. Goh didn't even know his name! He supposed he could have read the nametag, but that's neither here nor there.

The cafe was nice though, and the frappe tasted good. He would definitely come back, but maybe at a different time to avoid the weird barista.

Goh sipped on his drink for half an hour, nearly finished with it, when a Pikachu approached his table with another drink. He waved his hand in dismissal, knowing he didn't order anything else, but then he caught sight of what exactly the Pokemon was bringing to him.

It was a frappe, but themed to match Raboot. The cookies for the ears were awkwardly angled to match the rabbit's floppy ears, and they were smeared with grey tinted frosting that wasn't completely mixed. There were three marshmallows on top with whipped cream, and a strip of caramel ran across them. The frappe itself was layered with chocolate and red velvet it seemed, with toasted nuts sprinkled through it.

Goh stared at the drink, then Pikachu, then finally up to the unprofessional cashier. He caught him staring, and Goh suppressed a laugh as he whipped around to avoid eye contact. He took the drink from Pikachu and made his way to the counter to confront him.

"I, uh, didn't order this," he began slowly. The cashier awkwardly scratched his cheek, looking away.

"I know, I made it for you since you seemed so sad that there wasn't anything Raboot themed." he explained. His head hung low in shame. "Plus, I made you really uncomfortable, I'm sorry about that."

"O-oh…" Goh couldn't think of a retort, feeling his cheeks heat up ever so slightly. "Uh, how much do I owe you?"

"Huh?"

"For the drink, I should pay, right?"

"No!" the cashier exclaimed, startling Goh.. He then cleared his throat and repeated himself more quietly. "No, it's on the house. I hope you like it," 

Goh stared at him, dumbfounded. He glanced at the sugary drink in his hands, then back at the barista. He tried to pretend he was still upset with him, but Goh couldn't help it as a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and his cheeks turned pink. He turned to walk back to his seat, when it struck him that he hadn't even thanked the barista.

"Oh, and thank you!" he squeaked out. Goh blushed even harder. He didn't realize he was so smitten that he couldn't speak properly. His head hung low as he stared at the floor, but he managed to bring himself to look up to the boy behind the counter. 

"What's your name, by the way?" 

The cashier looked paralyzed. Goh couldn't even tell if he was breathing. He half considered calling an ambulance when the boy's Pikachu nudged him with a smirk.

"I'm Ash! And it's no problem," he grinned. Goh smiled back, unable to stop himself.

After a moment, he went back to sit down. Raboot was waiting for him, curious about the drink. They both took a sip from it, wondering if it tasted good.

The two of them lit up, loving how sweet it was. It bordered the line of overbearing, but the dark chocolate base was just bitter enough to balance it out. He spared a glance to Ash, who was caught in the act of staring at them. He waved to them, embarrassed, and a laugh erupted from Goh. 

He and Raboot enjoyed the rest of the drink in peace. He knew deep inside that he'd consumed enough sugar that day to last an entire week, but Goh would definitely be coming to the cafe as much as possible to talk to Ash more. 

A thought crossed his mind that there was a way to talk to him more without sacrificing his blood sugar. Goh hummed, then rummaged through his backpack to find a sharpie. Once he pulled one out, he approached the front counter again. 

Ash was puzzled and worried, thinking that maybe he didn't like the drink and wanted to complain about it, but instead, Goh held a hand out to him. Confused, Ash took his hand, only to have it pulled towards the other boy.

Before he could say anything, Goh uncapped a marker in his mouth and started writing something along his arm. Ash watched him curiously. Once he was done, Goh let go of him and allowed him to process what was written on him. 

Ash felt his face heat up in record time when he recognized the writing to be a phone number. He stared back at Goh, who's cheeks were puffed in an attempt to look uninterested despite that he was also blushing. 

"There's that number you wanted with my order," he said cooly. He called Raboot over to him and the two of them left the store without another word. It seemed rude, but really the only reason Goh did so was to hide the fact that he was extremely embarrassed by his boldness.

Ash laughed giddily as he kept staring at the numbers on his arm. He excitedly danced around with the cafe Pokemon, who were very confused. They supported him anyway and pretended to know what was going on. 

Ash finally calmed down after a while, just in time for another rush. His eyes flicked back down to his hand and he grinned again, excited to message Goh later.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed~   
> This almost became more than a oneshot hhhhhh I mean lmk if you'd actually want this to be a whole story?? I never finish projects though ^^;;


End file.
